Geography of the body

Film directed by Willard Maas in 1943. Commentary by the British poet, George Barker.

Synopsis

'Extreme close-ups of nude male and female bodies, taken through a magnifying glass bought at a dime store, are combined with a surrealist text written and read by poet George Barker. The poem, in Barker's deadpan reading, comments humorously on the body parts, which are photographed in such tiny detail that they appear as landscapes. Geography of the Body was the first widely distributed underground art film, and was a regular fixture of the campus art film circuit for years. Although by the year 2000 it appears as a relatively quaint antique (and is in serious need of preservation assistance), Geography of the Body was easily as influential in its day as Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid's Meshes of the Afternoon, made the same year. ~-David Lewis, All Movie Guide

Cast

George Barker - Narrator Willard Maas - Male Body * Marie Menken - Female Body

Crew

Direction - Willard Maas Screenwriting - George Barker Cinematography - Willard Maas & Marie Menken Special Effects - Marie Menken

 

Film notes

'Commentary by the British poet, George Barker. An analogical pilgrimage evokes the terrors and splendors of the human body as the undiscovered, mysterious continent. Extreme magnification increases the ambiguity of the visuals, tongue-in-cheek commentary counteracts or reinforces their sexual implications. The method is that used by the imagist-symbolist poet. --Canyon Cinema 1992 catalogue.

 

Author: 

Year: 

1943
Technical data

Original format: 

16mm

Speed: 

24FPS

Aspect ratio: 

1.37:1

Colour: 

B&W

Sound: 

Optical

Length: 

7 minutes

Distribution/sales: 

Copies for rent: Canyon Cinema

Sale:

Geography of the body is included in Kino Video's DVD compilation Avant-Garde 2: Experimental Cinema from 1928-1954.

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